Blueberry Buckle: It’s What’s For Breakfast

I heard his cries right on time, 6:30 am. when my sweet Smudge greets the day. We have had the same morning routine for months. Smudge, Roscoe, the cats and I sit on my lanai and listen to the birds sing while the sun rises. Usually, it’s all I need to begin my day filled with a sense of peace.

One morning, I heard Smudge’s calls and felt it. Frustration. I woke with thoughts of all I hadn’t accomplished. I wanted to go back to sleep. Before my feet hit the floor, my mind filled with darkness. Then came the guilt which spoke to me of how blessed my life is, how beautiful the day was, and how here I was ungrateful because gratefulness and anger can’t occupy the same space. Thinking this way only made it worse. The frustration and guilt swirled like a tornado in my mind before the sun was above the trees.

As I sat on my lanai surrounded by beauty feeling angry, sad, and all around yucky, I finally asked myself what I could do to improve my mood, change my thoughts. I knew if I asked what was wrong I’d come up with several reasons, none of which would help me feel any better at that moment. I wanted peace. The answer to my question came swiftly like a whisper on the morning breeze. I wanted to create something. And instead of writing a story or a blog post I remembered the blueberries I had bought the day before.  I wanted to bake.

I went to the kitchen, took out my grandmother’s hand written recipe, gathered the ingredients, turned on the music to Waitress and for the first time in a long time I made my grandmother’s blueberry buckle. The smell of it baking brought me back to my childhood. The giant grin on my husband’s face when he woke to one of his favorite desserts filled me with joy. One bite reminded me of climbing out of my grandparent’s pool, sitting at the picnic table, feeling the sun warm my back and digging into a cake filled with blueberries. There were many moments of happiness during my summers in Vineland, New Jersey on New Pear Street, swimming with my best friend, Ann.

My gratefulness returned. All it took was a loving memory, baking, and a mouthful of blueberry heaven.

                      Recipe

My grandmother wrote her recipes on index cards. She included the date and the person’s name who gave her the recipe on all the cards. The following is a Blueberry Buckle recipe my grandmother, Virginia Keen, received from a Mrs. Cole on August 2, 1963.

Mix and Beat

• 3/4 Cup of Sugar
• 1/4 Cup of Crisco
• 1 egg

Stir In

• 1/2 Cup of Milk
• 2 Cups of Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon of Salt
• 2 teaspoons Baking Powder
• Fold in 2 Cups of Blueberries

Spread batter (quite stiff) onto a greased and floured pan 7 1/2 x 12 or 9×9

Mix and sprinkle top with

• 1/2 C. Sugar
• 1/3 C. Flour
• 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
• 1 Tablespoon Soft Butter

Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.